My Motorcycles
Bikes I currently own:-
None. :-(
2000 Suzuki SV650
This bike was another junkyard special. I bought it from an aquaintance who crashed it a few days before going back to Germany. Since she had to sell the bike anyway, I got a firesale deal. I got a lot of grief from another friend for being an ambulance chaser. "Sorry 'bout your baby,", he'd say, "but how much do you want for that crib?" The insurance company for the at-fault driver had picked up the bill for parts and labor to fix it, so she did pretty well, too.
The parts list was pretty extensive, but most of the parts they quoted had very minor scratches (hard to see unless pointed out). The toe lever was broken off the shifter, so I drilled it and ran a bolt through it. I straightened the trim ring around the headlight. The tank has a set of scratches and a dent that I will probably just spot-prime and paint.
The only stuff that really needed replacement was the gauge cluster and the handlebar. Since racers pull these off first, they were be easy to find.
I have a couple of gripes with this bike in it's stock form. First, it's a great motor, but the exhaust strangles the sound and the flow. A Vance & Hines S4 full system fixed the problem there. Also, the front end is underdamped and undersprung. I'm too cheap for the full Racetech treatment, so I put Progressive springs and 20wt fork oil in it. The only other nit is the silly stock handlebar, but I haven't tried to fix that yet.
With the finishing touch of some braided stainless brake lines up front, and I'm ready for some track days.